2.2: Ace Adventurer Investigations
The second session of The Brazen Helm. Played in January 2017. The Party * Eadmund, Human Magus * Sheng Háldott, Human Inquisitor * Wilhelm Widalis, Gnome Somaturge Journal The Stagwell Incident 15th of Oak Moon, 1985 – Red Dragonfly Inn, Dewport, Ceraris One afternoon the Knights are sitting in the back room of the Red Dragonfly when there's a knock at the front door. It's not even locked, but Reddy walks up and opens it anyway. A very shaken-looking middle-aged woman enters the inn. She introduces herself as Miranda Stagpole. Miranda: ”And my... my husband was murdered last night...” Eadmund: ”Wow, that really sucks!” Miranda: ”...” Eadmund: ”...” Sheng jumps in to try and stop Eadmund from embarrassing himself further. Miranda explains that her husband Laurent Stagpole was murdered in the middle of his meeting with an old friend of theirs, inside his own office – there was nobody else in the room, but the City Guard came to the conclusion that it wasn't the friend either. After that they practically shrugged and left the crime scene as it was! That pretty much fits the Knights' prior impression of them. The Guard doesn't seem to be doing much and Miranda's just utterly confused, so she decided to turn to outside help before it's too late. Laurent was a relatively successful art dealer who ran a shop at the Gold Market. Their home and his office are located above the store, as is common. Behind the counter they see a snoring city guard, whom Miranda gives a hateful glare before leading the others upstairs. Laurent's office is on the third floor; there's a cold draft coming from under the door. Miranda: ”You... you just go in. I'll wait here if you need to ask something, but I really don't want to see it all again. Nothing has been changed since yesterday.” Wilhelm has the foresight to leave his golem outside as well, to avoid trailing dirt all over the crime scene. Crime Scenery Investigation The somewhat cluttered office is lined with bookshelves and artwork from Laurent's own collection. There is a large desk and a chair in front of a wide double window, which has been locked into a slightly ajar position with a metal clasp, explaining the chill. A knocked-over brazier has spilled its coals on the carpet, leaving it visibly charred, but they're clearly cold by now. On the wall opposite the window is Laurent Stagpole himself, a middle-aged man, firmly nailed to a landscape painting by an over-sized crossbow bolt through the back of his head. The painting has a good amount of said head's contents splattered all over it. Eadmund can't help but mutter a swear under his breath. Before anyone enters, Sheng performs a scan for alignment or magical auras, detecting nothing. Just to fit in, Wilhelm performs a scan for dirt, and predictably detects traces on the floor. They start their investigation by personally confirming that, yes, Laurent Stagpole is indeed dead. Wilhelm: ”You don't say.” Apart from the body and the brazier, the room seems undisturbed – the Knights specifically look for conspicuous gaps in the bookshelves, the artwork or the items on the desk, but nothing seems to be missing. The only potential weapon around is a perfectly ordinary paper-knife. Just to be perfectly sure, Sheng inspects the body to confirm that there's no doubt about the cause of death being the crossbow bolt sticking through its head, and there are no other injuries. Eadmund somehow gets it into his head that the painting it's leaning against, a countryside landscape, might be some kind of treasure map. Sheng carefully checks that there's no hidden safe behind it or anything. Their attention obviously turns towards the window. None of the glass panels are broken, but the gap is just barely wide enough for the bolt to have passed through from a perfect 90° angle. Thing is, outside the window is the perfectly open Gold Market, and Wilhelm confirms that the nearest possible shooting position is a four-story building about 600 feet away, on the opposite side of the square. It seems unlikely for anyone to make such a precise shot at such a range, but nothing is impossible, and they don't really have other theories for now. They leave the office to ask Miranda for her version of the events: The Stagpoles' old friend Laranor, who owns an antique store nearby, came on a friendly visit a bit before 8 o'clock last evening, as he often does. As usual, he and Laurent headed up into the office to talk. It was peaceful for a moment, but suddenly there was a lot of clatter and Laranor came stomping down the stairs, crying for help. He went to fetch the City Guard while Miranda entered the office and saw Laurent dead, but managed to keep herself together long enough to put out the brazier that Laranor had knocked over in his panic. Some guards arrived a while later, made a brief tour of the scene, interrogated Laranor and – in Miranda's words – pretty much shrugged their shoulders and left. The scene shouldn't have been disturbed since. Eadmund: ”One last thing: what's with that painting?” Miranda: ”The... the painting? Well, it was one of his favorites, I suppose, but...” Eadmund: ”Hmm...” The Knights decide to investigate these other leads they have. They're pretty certain the shooter was positioned across the Market, but want to be thorough. They walk up to the guard on the first floor, still sleeping, and Sheng slams his hands on the counter to wake him up. Guard: ”L-Lieutenant! Wait, no. Who are you?” Eadmund launches into his usual sales pitch, which he doesn't get to finish, as usual. Guard: ”Oh, whatever. What are you bothering me for?” Sheng: ”Were you here last night?” Guard: ”Nuh-uh, Lieutenant Dryden just brought me here this morning and told me to stay put. Apparently there's some sorta crime scene upstairs and he's in charge of it. What's that all about, anyway?” Eadmund: ”The gruesome murder of this shop's owner.” Guard: ”Oh, okay. Anyway, if you want the Lieutenant, I bet he's at the Fireside or something.” They leave the guard to his ”guarding” and decide on the shortest route: first they'll visit Laranor and ask him some questions. Then they'll check out their suspected shooting position. And then, if necessary, they'll go find this Lieutenant. Checking In Laranor the elf is sitting in his antique store by the Gold Market, sullenly doing some paperwork at the counter. He looks pretty broken up as well, but is happy to answer the Knights' questions if it will help the investigation: Laranor and Laurent were just having a friendly discussion about things like business, the weather, that nice rocking chair he received last week... Eadmund: ”Wait, you went to someone's office just to discuss the weather?” Laranor, on the verge of crying: ”It was just a friendly visit, for gods' sake!” The brazier heating the room was smoking a bit too much, so they opened the window to vent it out. As they talked, Laurent got up from his chair and started walking around the room in deep thought, which wasn't unusual for him. Shortly after he stopped in front of the large painting... Eadmund: "Why'd he do that? Something special about the painting?" Laranor: "I-I don't know, I suppose he liked it?" ...a crossbow bolt flew in through the open window and killed him instantly, or so Laranor assumes. He panicked, accidentally knocked over the brazier and ran out to fetch someone. After finally arriving, the guards basically frisked Laranor for weapons, took his confused testimony and told him to go home. He didn't get the impression they were trying very hard. Laurent didn't have any enemies that Laranor knew of, and their field of business wasn't especially competitive or anything. The Knights briefly consider the possibility of someone trying to kill Laranor and mistaking Laurent for him, but they look pretty damn different. Either way, his story adds up and Sheng's famed Motive Sense isn't tingling, so they decide to move on. Laranor wishes them the best of luck. The four-story building opposite Laurent's office turns out to be a large and expensive inn called the Lilyvalley Lodge. They step into the lobby and speak to the young receptionist standing behind the counter. Sheng: ”Hello, we're investigating a crime and require access to some of your rooms, at least from the third floor up.” Receptionist: ”Uh, I'm not sure that's something I can do. Who were you again?” Eadmund: ”A knightly order assisting the City Guard.” Receptionist: ”Well, the third floor is almost completely reserved, and I obviously can't let you into the customers' rooms. Oh, you're probably looking for the woman on the fourth floor!” The Knights share a meaningful glance. Eadmund: ”What woman?” The receptionist seems to perk up: ”Oh, she was really mysterious and everything! Brown hair, youngish, green eyes... she came here yesterday, reserved a fourth-floor suite for three days and told us not to clean it, but I'm pretty sure she didn't sleep there.” Sheng: ”Ooh, how young?” Eadmund: ”Seriously?” Receptionist: ”About thirty or so.” Sheng: ”Bah. Around what time was this?” Receptionist: ”She came here around six or so and left a little before nine. Hasn't been back since. Oh, and even better, she actually left a message in case anyone came looking for her! It's like a little poem or something.” The receptionist digs out a piece of paper and reads it out loud: ”The midnight full moon blesses an aging heart.” The first part is pretty obvious: Eadmund realizes that tonight is the first of the full moon, so she presumably wants to meet somewhere at midnight. The ”aging heart” part is a bit weirder. The receptionist, clearly giddy at the thought of being involved in such a mystery, agrees to take them to the suite in question. Despite the lack of cleaning, it's pretty much spotless and nobody seems to have slept there. A large window opens to the Market, facing directly towards Laurent's office. Sheng does a little test aiming with his own bow and decides that the angle of fire wouldn't be physically impossible. The accuracy issue could be fixed with some magical aid, such as True Strike, which even Eadmund can cast. Receptionist: ”If I may ask, what's the crime you're investigating?” Wilhelm: ”The murder of an arts merchant across the Market.” The receptionist's smile disappears: ”Oh, gods... I-I'm sorry for sounding so happy about it, I -” Eadmund: ”No, it's okay! I think this is all really exciting too!” The puzzle seems to be coming together pretty well, but just to make sure, the Knights decide to seek out this Lieutenant Dryden. They make their way to the Port District and the Fireside Tavern, which they actually briefly visited on their first day in town. Eadmund: ”Hey, there's actually a really nice tea place near here. They also have this weird orc drink. It's pretty disgusting.” This time it's already evening and the large fire pit in the middle of the room is ablaze, providing light and warmth for the people drinking and gambling all around the hall. The crowd includes laymen, sailors and even a few guards. Among those chainshirt-wearing guards is one with a proper breastplate and blue cape. They assume that curly-haired man to be the Lieutenant. Sheng takes a moment to survey the group from a distance. No alignmental auras of note, but Dryden's carrying a magic longsword on his hip, and even if he's quite drunk, Sheng gets the impression that picking a fight wouldn't be the brightest idea. The Knights approach. Dryden and his fellow guards are laughing about some joke of theirs, so Sheng joins in, louder than anyone else. The guards stop to glare at him and a deadly chill descends over the table. Sheng: ”Evening! Are you Lieutenant Dryden?” Dryden: ”What's it to ya?” Sheng: ”We're from the Brazen Helm, and Miranda Stagpole hired us to investigate the murder of her husband. We got the impression you were doing the same.” Dryden: ”Oh, that Laurent Stagpole? Yeah, seems like a dead end to me. It wasn't the friend, and we have no idea where the shot could've come from.” Sheng: ”There's a suitable window right across the Market.” Dryden: ”Bah, nobody could make that shot.” Sheng: ”With magic they could.” Dryden shrugs: ”Look, rich folks get killed and robbed all the time, just add this one to the list.” Sheng: ”He wasn't robbed.” Dryden: ”Hey, how about you northern lads stop telling me how to do my job, huh!? Or do you wanna fight, huh!?” Sheng decides there's nothing to be gained here and starts walking away. Dryden: ”Yeah, I thought so!” Sheng grumbles to himself and keeps walking. Wilhelm: ”Hey, before we leave... do you have any idea what 'an aging heart' could mean?” Dryden: ”Wuh? You mean like.. agehearts, those flowers or whatnot?” That's pretty much what Eadmund had thought. He sprints out the door and heads towards the park. Sheng notices him running and decides to do the same. Wilhelm rides his golem at a leisurely pace, wondering why the others are in such a hurry when they still have several hours left. In fact, he takes a brief detour to buy a large cloak that covers and somewhat disguises his golem. No-Scope Mugshot Eadmund correctly recalls that ageheart flowers are the symbol of the Mother of Nations and grow in several places around her temple. At the moment, the park is mostly deserted and there aren't too many people inside the temple either, but the Knights have some time to kill. Sheng finds a vantage point in a tall tree, all of which are leafless, and tries to stay hidden. Eadmund and Wilhelm relax inside the temple, and the latter uses Golem's Eyes to project his consciousness into the golem and patrol the perimeter. The Knights fully expect a trap of some sort, but are willing to attend this midnight meeting anyway. Just before midnight, Sheng spots a three-man group with a lantern entering the park. They hang around for a bit before heading to a small plaza with bright red flowers planted around it. Sheng alerts the others and they cautiously head to the meeting. The other group consists of a dwarf, a wolf on a leash, an armored human and a halfling. They're standing in one corner of the plaza, having set their lantern on the edge of a raised flower bed in the middle, and the latter-most has climbed a small tree. The Knights take up similar positions in the opposite corner and Wilhelm's golem lifts him into a tree as well, as if to complete the symmetry of the scene. Eadmund waves a friendly hello. Sheng: ”Well, what are you doing here then?” Dwarf: ”We ain't interested in talking! Which one of you ladies is Cintia?” Sheng: ”Who's that?” Dwarf: ”We're about to show you not to mess with the Bullfrogs!” The dwarf draws two axes and prepares to fight, but suddenly the Knights hear a cry of pain from behind them. A man who was trying to sneak up on them is lying on the ground, clutching his leg, which has a large bolt sticking through it. Dwarf: ”They ambushed our ambush! Get 'em!” The dwarf releases his wolf, but it promptly gets tackled to the ground by Wilhelm's deceptively fast golem. The halfling in the tree casts Enlarge Person on his armored comrade. Halfling: ”You're powered up, get in there!” Those are his dignified last words before taking two rapid shots from Sheng and falling to the ground head-first. While the golem is wrestling with the wolf, Eadmund charges forward and casts Enlarge Person as well. The armored man swings a warhammer in his direction, but seems rather clumsy with it, and the dwarf moves behind him to flank, but has some understandable difficulty landing good hits on a fighting target three times his own height. After even stepping on his little dwarven feet a couple of times, Eadmund lands a single decisive slash with his Flamebite-infused scimitar. The dwarf doesn't go down immediately, but succumbs to the blaze a moment later. Meanwhile, Wilhelm lobs some Clinging Earth at the wounded ambusher behind them and even tries to use his crossbow – a momentous occasion – but misses miserably. The man gathers his strength to lumber at Sheng, but is unceremoniously finished off with a single arrow, after which Sheng turns back towards the actual fight. The wolf bites the dust (golem), but in vain, and is soon knocked out. The armored man is the last enemy standing and decides to make a run for it, but only makes it about thirty feet away before Sheng shoots him in the back and he falls to the ground. The Knights are gathering up the two corpses and two captives (the armored man and the dwarf, whom Eadmund extinguishes) when they see a female figure approaching from the direction of the temple, stopping a safe distance away. She's wearing a long cloak over a suit of leather armor and carrying a large crossbow. Cintia: ”I'm assuming you're not from the Guard.” Sheng: ”And I'm assuming you're Cintia.” She raises her crossbow to her shoulder and smirks: ”Cintia Cross, best bounty hunter in town, if I say so myself.” Wilhelm actually takes a better look at the weapon. It's a rather advanced design: a heavy repeating crossbow with a horizontal magazine, something of a scope and intricate carvings all over. As she lowers it, it folds up and collapses into a travel-sized box she places on her belt. Cintia: ”This Bullfrog gang here has been shadowing me – rather poorly – since I took out their boss about a month ago. Figured I'd lure them into a trap.” Eadmund: ”And what's with Laurent Stagpole, then?” Cintia: ”I believe you mean Laurent Doewell.” She digs out a folder flier and hands it to the Knights before backing off again. It's a wanted poster, ”dead or alive”, with a drawing of what could well be a younger Laurent. He is accused of fraud, assault and six counts of murder, with a bounty of 5,000 sp. Cintia: ”That poster was handed out by the City Guard of Barlang thirteen years ago. Doewell was never caught, but the bounty is still in effect. I originally came across it by coincidence, but after some digging, it turns out it's actually our old friend Stagwell in that picture. He showed up in Dewport a few years later under a different surname.” Eadmund: ”How can you be so sure?” Cintia: ”I'm sure enough. Thing is, I'm actually pretty new in town, but halfway through this plan I realized the local guards would either ignore me or try to arrest me if I tried to explain the situation. That's why I left a trail any halfway competent investigator could find, and assumed that someone would listen instead.” Sheng: ”So... you just hoped for Miranda to come and hire us, and for us to find you, and for us to present your case?” Cintia: ”No, not you specifically, anybody would've been fine. And even if you didn't, it would've lured the Bullfrogs here, and I could've thought of something else afterwards. Who are you, anyway?” Eadmund: ”Oh, we're the Brasshelms, a knightly order from Runewall, and we –” Eadmund almost starts trying to recruit her, but then realizes they probably don't want to. Sheng: ”You could've just taken him alive.” Cintia: ”Not how I do things. I don't get close like that. Besides, looking at the situation here, you can hardly call yourself innocent either.” Eadmund: ”Hey, I would never kill anyone! Not even on accident!” (Yeah, right.) Cintia: ”Anyway, are you going to help or not? I'll let you have the bounty on the Bullfrogs, I think it's about 500 sp a piece – dead or alive.” Sheng starts scanning Cintia for magic, and his sudden spellcasting makes her reach for her crossbow. Cintia: "I'd prefer if you didn't just start casting something with no warning." Sheng: "You must understand, we have to take some precautions." Cintia: "So do I, and I have no way to know whether you're about to heal yourself or throw a fireball at me." About all he finds out is that Cintia has a lot of magic auras on her. He doesn't actually have the technical know-how to decipher them. The Knights definitely have mixed feelings, but they decide to suck it up and haul their catch to the Flower Quarter Guard Station, though not before digging through the Bullfrogs' pockets for a nice lump of cash. They tie up and heal the unconscious ones, whom Cintia gags as soon as they try to speak. Cross-Examination Sheng slams open the doors: ”I have arrived!” At the entrance of the Guard Station, a large blocky building, the Knights find a startled guard who sees the four criminals they're dragging and decides to fetch his superior. After a moment, Captain Colton, a bald man in his fifties with a tired look on his face, arrives to speak to them. They explain the situation. Sheng: ”So, to summarize, this here assassin –” Cintia: ”Bounty hunter.” Sheng: ”– claims that she killed Laurent Stagpole because he had an old bounty on his head.” Colton: ”Well, we've received Imperial orders to cooperate with the Brazen Helm, and it sure would be nice to actually solve something for once. I presume you've met Lieutenant Dryden?” Sheng: ”Oh, yeah, we definitely get what you mean.” Colton: ”I can certainly give you the bounty on the Bullfrogs, but we'll have to check about... Doewell.” Cintia shrugs and doesn't object. Before they head to the crime scene, though, the Captain wants to fetch someone else. They walk a short distance down the street and come to the city cemetery, surrounded by a tall cast iron fence. On the edge of the cemetery there is a small temple, perhaps more of a shrine. The Knights figure that it's dedicated to the Reaper of Years, God of Death. Colton knocks on the door, and after a moment they hear the sound of several locks and latches being unlocked. Standing in the doorway is a pale man about Colton's age, wearing a dark robe and a somewhat disturbing finger bone necklace. He's introduced as Reverend Sercos, keeper of this graveyard. Sercos: ”But Captain, old friend, what brings you here? It's been a while.” Colton: ”I need your help solving a case.” Sercos: ”Oh, just like old times? Say no more. I'll be out in a moment.” Miranda lets the whole crew in and they enter the office while she waits outside again. Wilhelm's golem and Eadmund block the exits, just in case things go awry and Cintia tries to run – in their minds she's still suspected of murder. Without further ado, Sercos mutters a prayer and touches Laurent on the head. He's clearly done this very same thing before. With a disgusting creak, the corpse's mouth starts moving slowly, as if trying to speak or gasp for air. Sercos says they have a total of four questions to spend as they wish. The Knights decide to let Colton handle it, just so they're not responsible for any mistakes. He gets right next to the corpse's face. Colton: ”Is your real name Laurent Doewell?” Laurent, in a monotone whisper: ”...yes...” Well, that was efficient. Case closed, everyone. The Knights suggest another question, though. Colton: ”Did you commit those crimes you were accused of thirteen years ago?” Laurent: ”...yes...” Alright, so the bounty itself was justified as well. Eadmund asks to have a go at it, and after hearing the question, permission is given with some eye-rolling reluctance. Eadmund: ”What is the meaning of that painting?” Laurent, after a moment of silence: ”...it is a landscape.” Eadmund is heartbroken. The others can't help but laugh. Well, there's still one question left. They agree that it should probably be given to Miranda. Sheng is the one to open the door and speak to her. Miranda: ”W-What's going on? I heard parts of your... conversation... and...” Sheng explains the basics as delicately as he can: how Laurent had a bounty put on him for crimes he committed before meeting Miranda. She's in utter disbelief – Laurent was always really sweet, got along with everyone, the usual – but Sheng insists that Laurent confessed to everything (which confuses her even more). Given one last chance to speak to her husband, she awkwardly asks: Miranda: ”Is this... true? Did you really do those horrible things?” Laurent: ”...yes...” The corpse deanimates once more and Miranda bolts out of the room, covering her sobbing face. The Knights can't help but feel a bit annoyed at her utterly wasteful use of the question, as callous as that may be. In retrospect, Wilhelm thinks it might've been better to ask more about those past crimes. Sercos says he'll start the funeral arrangements in the morning. As they're leaving the building, they glimpse Miranda peeking at them from another room, but when they turn to look at her she slams the door shut. The Knights realize she might not be very happy about her husband's murderer not only getting away scot-free, but actually being rewarded for the deed. At least they have the minimal decency not to ask for payment. They did get about a total of 2600 sp from the Bullfrogs' pockets and bounty, after all. Colton: ”Cintia... I mean, Ms Cross, what you are doing may be legal, but it'd still be appreciated if you could be a bit more... delicate.” Cintia just shrugs again: ”The bounty's the same. At least I probably won't need to jump through all these hoops in the future.” Sheng: ”So, uh, if we ever needed to contact you, how would we do that?” Cintia: ”Hmm... I don't really have much of network over here yet, but I'm probably sticking around. Seems like there's a lot of work for someone like me. Don't worry, I'll contact you sooner or later.” The Knights have reached level 4. __FORCETOC__ Category:Lorelm Category:Kampanjat Category:Content Category:English